AILING BUSH DESPERATE PLEA

AS ex-PREZ GEORGE H.W. BUSH lay in intensive care, he “freaked out” begging for “Elvira”.

AND he got the perfect medicine to speed his recovery – a serenade by The Oak Ridge Boys!

“I was really surprised when I got an e-mail from President Bush’s secretary, saying Barbara Bush wanted us to surprise him with a call and sing to him,” Duane Allen, a member of the legendary coun­try group, told The ENQUIRER.

“I immediately rounded everyone up at our Nashville office. We set up the speaker phone and called the hospital.

“We’d do anything for that man.”

The Grammy-winning Oak Ridge Boys’ relationship with George H.W. Bush stretches back to 1982 when he was vice president. The group visited the White House, and they were surprised to learn that Bush was a huge fan.

“He knew our whole song catalog! We were amazed,” said Allen. “Since then, we have visited him many times and become dear friends.”

It had been touch-and-go for the 88-year-old former president after he checked into Houston’s Methodist Hospital on Nov. 23, suffering from severe bronchitis. Just two days before Christmas, he was placed in intensive care after he developed a high fever.

But when the frail Bush family patriarch picked up the phone and realized one of his favorite groups was on the line, he was elated.

“He freaked out!” recalled Allen. “He was so happy. We asked if he’d like to hear a song, and he said, ‘Yes! Sing me some ‘Elvira.’

“The next morning, he was released from intensive care and has been improving steadily ever since. We wanted to help him feel better – and it worked!”